Summary: Exposition of Psalm 5

5:1 | Listen to my words, LORD; consider my sighing.

5:2 | Pay attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to you.

• Hebrew Parallelism (saying the same thing twice)

• David desired to have an audience with God.

5:3 | In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you and watch expectantly.

• David prayed to God.

• Don’t skip that because throughout the Bible there are numerous stories of people praying to foreign gods who never answer them.

5:4 | For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil cannot dwell with you.

• The closer you draw to God, the more aware of his character comes to you. His holiness, our sinfulness.

5:5 | The boastful cannot stand in your sight; you hate all evildoers.

• The way David describes the wicked is not simply based off their actions/attitudes but rather their defiance and they want to stand up to God. They want to have their way, no matter what God says.

5:6 | You destroy those who tell lies; The Lord abhors violent and treacherous people.

5:7 | But I enter your house by the abundance of your faithful love; I bow down toward your holy temple in reverential awe of you.

• In view of God’s mercy, present your… (The point is to begin to live for God by first considering how merciful he has been towards you).

• In fear of you, I will worship (NKJV)

• The temple wasn’t built yet but David doesn’t see worship as limited to location (The women at the well who Jesus did focus on this).

• Sometimes we need to speak truth into our lives (keep asking for the dream to come true). It may not come true but keep speaking it; David never saw the temple built but he spoke about it.

5:8 | Lord, lead me in your righteousness because of my adversaries; make your way straight before me.

• Allow me to walk in a straight line.

5:9 | For there is nothing reliable in what they say, destruction is within them; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongues.

• How we live will be reflected in what we say.

• Matthew 12:34 “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

5:10 | Punish them, God; let them fall by their own schemes. Drive them out because of their many crimes, for they rebel against you.

• TBD

5:11 | But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them shout for joy forever. May you shelter them, and may those who love your name boast about you.

• You have permission to be happy (rejoice) as a follower of Christ.

• You have a command to rejoice. (Shout for joy)

5:12 | For you, LORD, bless the righteous one; you surround him with favor like a shield.

• You have a promise for joy.

• The ones who are righteous are those who trust God.